Hi All Just registered!! Need help with my 20 girls

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chuckchuck

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Hi There.. :D
I have a wee problem :-)11 We have always kept chickens since i was a small girl. within the last 2 years i have a new flock of 20. Originally started out with 6 and added 6 last nov 3 march and 5 more 2 weeks ago.
I have 6 sussex 2 buff leghorns 6 rangers 4 blackrock. I have 20 chcikens and ony getting min of 8 eggs a day :-)07 and occasionally soft shell!! No Cockerel!!
They are fed on layer with grit mixed in and grit available on damand!! I mix egg shell thats has been roasted and crushed down 2!! They have sweet corn occationally as treat and mixed corn!!
They have just been wormed as everytime add new birds i worm and lice them.. Using johnsons poultry tonic in water 2 :?
My Questions is 8 eggs and 20 chickens this cant be right!! My chickens all healthy all under 2 years of age Help????? :-)07
Thank you xx
 
Found yesterday Lice are back.. I am not happy spent alot of time and money.. Love my girls so if thats what they need then i will do it..
Also found a really poorly Venessa Discharge from the nose and coughing??
Does anyone no what this is????
 
Hi and welcome! Just one question are any of your girls fairly new to laying? I ask this because one of my girls had soft shelled eggs when she started to lay. It went on for a couple of months but has settled down to laying normal eggs. She also frequently laid double yolkers at the begining too. So if yours are fairly new to it I would say it's perfectly normal. Lice are a pain. I too have had them although I don't find it interferes with egg laying, although it probably would if a hen had a severe infestation. So the runny nose and coughing could be a cold or respitory infection. I would take the hen out and isolate as it can spread to the others if it hasn't already. This can affect egg laying if they are feeling poorly. Normally a course of antibiotic is the best remedy for this. Obviously you will have to get this from your vet. With 20 egg laying girls you probably can't expect much more than 15 eggs in one day because of their resting day, and there's normally more than one hen having that in any one day. Another thing if your hens are really new to egg laying then for the first couple of weeks they tend to lay a bit sporadically. Forgot to ask, how many nest boxes you got? I'm not sure if it would be a problem I believe you need one for every four hens (I think). I hope this helps and I'm sure others will have have other ideas too.
 
Hi
None of chickens new to egg laying all min of a year old. Only getting 7 eggs a day.. Dont have them just for eggs but it would be nice to get something back.. I have 6 nest boxes they live in converted big shed. They like to lay in first 3 boxes but all 6 are available :)
My chickens are all together. I am at the vets with venessa this afternoon..
wish me luck :)
 
Well my 20 girls are on antibiotics :(
all starting to perk up .. still no eggs xx
 
Hello and welcome.

Yes, sounds like a respritory problem. Chickenvet wrote a great article on Respiratory Disease in Chickens and we made this into an FAQ on the forum. It might be worth reading although it sounds as if you are treating it now anyway.

It's also worth checking the breast bone - it should be well pronounced and just have a tracing paper like skin over it. Fat hens won't produce eggs. Maize (Sweetcorn) is very fattening, although I know you did say they only get it as a treat. They should have no more than a handful of corn each and they should be encouraged to exercise (scratch) for it. You can also hang greens up at a height where they have to jump for it.

It does sound like the respiratory illness is causing the reduction in eggs though. This can also cause soft shells and watery whites.
 
I hope sooo. I dont just have some chickens for eggs but it would be nice :)
 
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